Quantum Causality

Quantum Causality
Author: Peter J. Riggs
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2009-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9048124034

There is no sharp dividing line between the foundations of physics and philosophy of physics. This is especially true for quantum mechanics. The debate on the interpretation of quantum mechanics has raged in both the scientific and philosophical communities since the 1920s and continues to this day. (We shall understand the unqualified term ‘quantum mechanics’ to mean the mathematical formalism, i. e. laws and rules by which empirical predictions and theoretical advances are made. ) There is a popular rendering of quantum mechanics which has been publicly endorsed by some well known physicists which says that quantum mechanics is not only 1 more weird than we imagine but is weirder than we can imagine. Although it is readily granted that quantum mechanics has produced some strange and counter-intuitive results, the case will be presented in this book that quantum mechanics is not as weird as we might have been led to believe! The prevailing theory of quantum mechanics is called Orthodox Quantum Theory (also known as the Copenhagen Interpretation). Orthodox Quantum Theory endows a special status on measurement processes by requiring an intervention of an observer or an observer’s proxy (e. g. a measuring apparatus). The placement of the observer (or proxy) is somewhat arbitrary which introduces a degree of subjectivity. Orthodox Quantum Theory only predicts probabilities for measured values of physical quantities. It is essentially an instrumental theory, i. e.

Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle

Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle
Author: Wayne C. Myrvold
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2009-01-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402091079

In July 2006, a major international conference was held at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Canada, to celebrate the career and work of a remarkable man of letters. Abner Shimony, who is well known for his pioneering contributions to foundations of quantum mechanics, is a physicist as well as a philosopher, and is highly respected among the intellectuals of both communities. In line with Shimony’s conviction that philosophical investigation is not to be divorced from theoretical and empirical work in the sciences, the conference brought together leading theoretical physicists, experimentalists, as well as philosophers. This book collects twenty-three original essays stemming from the conference, on topics including history and methodology of science, Bell's theorem, probability theory, the uncertainty principle, stochastic modifications of quantum mechanics, and relativity theory. It ends with a transcript of a fascinating discussion between Lee Smolin and Shimony, ranging over the entire spectrum of Shimony's wide-ranging contributions to philosophy, science, and philosophy of science.

Quantum Objects

Quantum Objects
Author: Gregg Jaeger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2013-08-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642376290

This monograph identifies the essential characteristics of the objects described by current quantum theory and considers their relationship to space-time. In the process, it explicates the senses in which quantum objects may be consistently considered to have parts of which they may be composed or into which they may be decomposed. The book also demonstrates the degree to which reduction is possible in quantum mechanics, showing it to be related to the objective indefiniteness of quantum properties and the strong non-local correlations that can occur between the physical quantities of quantum subsystems. Careful attention is paid to the relationships among such property correlations, physical causation, probability, and symmetry in quantum theory. In this way, the text identifies and clarifies the conceptual grounds underlying the unique nature of many quantum phenomena.

Quantum Theory and Local Causality

Quantum Theory and Local Causality
Author: Gábor Hofer-Szabó
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2018-02-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319739336

​This book summarizes the results of research the authors have pursued in the past years on the problem of implementing Bell's notion of local causality in local physical theories and relating it to other important concepts and principles in the foundations of physics such as the Common Cause Principle, Bell's inequalities, the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) scenario, and various other locality and causality concepts. The book is intended for philosophers of science with an interest in the formal background of sciences, philosophers of physics and physicists working in foundation of physics.

Rethinking Causality in Quantum Mechanics

Rethinking Causality in Quantum Mechanics
Author: Christina Giarmatzi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2019-10-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 303031930X

Causality is central to understanding the mechanisms of nature: some event "A" is the cause of another event “B”. Surprisingly, causality does not follow this simple rule in quantum physics: due to to quantum superposition we might be led to believe that "A causes B” and that "B causes A”. This idea is not only important to the foundations of physics but also leads to practical advantages: a quantum circuit with such indefinite causality performs computationally better than one with definite causality. This thesis provides one of the first comprehensive introductions to quantum causality, and presents a number of advances. It provides an extension and generalization of a framework that enables us to study causality within quantum mechanics, thereby setting the stage for the rest of the work. This comprises: mathematical tools to define causality in terms of probabilities; computational tools to prove indefinite causality in an experiment; means to experimentally test particular causal structures; and finally an algorithm that detects the exact causal structure in an quantum experiment.

Causality and Chance in Modern Physics

Causality and Chance in Modern Physics
Author: David Bohm
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 188
Release: 1957
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780812210026

In this classic, David Bohm was the first to offer us his causal interpretation of the quantum theory. Causality and Chance in Modern Physics continues to make possible further insight into the meaning of the quantum theory and to suggest ways of extending the theory into new directions.

Causality Rules

Causality Rules
Author: Vladimir Pascalutsa
Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2018-07-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 168174919X

Scattering of light by light is a fundamental process arising at the quantum level through vacuum fluctuations. This short book will explain how, remarkably enough, this quantum process can entirely be described in terms classical quantities. This description is derived from general principles, such as causality, unitarity, Lorentz, and gauge symmetries. The reader will be introduced into a rigorous formulation of these fundamental concepts, as well as their physical interpretation and applications.

Emergent Quantum Mechanics

Emergent Quantum Mechanics
Author: Jan Walleczek
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3038976164

Emergent quantum mechanics explores the possibility of an ontology for quantum mechanics. The resurgence of interest in "deeper-level" theories for quantum phenomena challenges the standard, textbook interpretation. The book presents expert views that critically evaluate the significance—for 21st century physics—of ontological quantum mechanics, an approach that David Bohm helped pioneer. The possibility of a deterministic quantum theory was first introduced with the original de Broglie-Bohm theory, which has also been developed as Bohmian mechanics. The wide range of perspectives that were contributed to this book on the occasion of David Bohm’s centennial celebration provide ample evidence for the physical consistency of ontological quantum mechanics. The book addresses deeper-level questions such as the following: Is reality intrinsically random or fundamentally interconnected? Is the universe local or nonlocal? Might a radically new conception of reality include a form of quantum causality or quantum ontology? What is the role of the experimenter agent? As the book demonstrates, the advancement of ‘quantum ontology’—as a scientific concept—marks a clear break with classical reality. The search for quantum reality entails unconventional causal structures and non-classical ontology, which can be fully consistent with the known record of quantum observations in the laboratory.

Emotion Regulation

Emotion Regulation
Author: Ivan Nyklíček
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2008-11-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780387510583

An increasing number of studies have been conducted on the role of expression and regulation of emotion in health. Emotion Regulation addresses the question of these studies from diverse angles while encompassing conceptual, developmental, and clinical issues. Central concepts discussed in this volume that are related to health include: coping styles and aggression, alexithymia, emotional intelligence, emotional expression and depression, emotional expression and anxiety disorders, in addition to the emotional competence in children. The book is unique in describing up-to-date theories and empirical research in the area of emotional expression and health.

Theories of Causality

Theories of Causality
Author: John Losee
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2011
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 141281832X

What types of entities qualify as "causes" and "effects"? What is the relationship between cause and effect? How are causal claims to be assessed? The first question deals with the structure of the world; the second is about theories that interpret the relationship of causes to effects; while the third has to do with proper procedure in science and everyday life. This volume is a wide-ranging history of answers that have been given to these three questions, and their relationship to scientific understanding. Losee presents a number of theories of causality within a historical survey that emphasies the interrelationship between these theories and developments in science. His analysis displays the strengths and weaknesses of these theories so as to contribute to our present understanding of causal relatedness. Among the positions discussed are those of Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Mill, Salmon, Lewis, and Woodward. Losee's analysis displays the strengths and weaknesses of theories that identify causal relatedness with regularity of sequence, probability increase, energy transfer, exchange of a conserved quantity, counterfactual dependence, and inferability. These theories are judged, in part, by their ability to resolve difficulties posed by instances of overdetermination, causation by omission, preventive causation, and causation by disconnection. Since applications of the theories to these instances disagree, a strategy of employing multiple concepts of causation is examined.  Theories of Causality also describes the particular difficulties for causal analysis posed by quantum mechanics. One such difficulty is the prohibition against combining a causal analysis of a quantum process with a spatio-temporal description of that process.